NYCC Planning Officer recommends approval for fracking at KM8

The NYCC Planning Officer, Vicky Perkin, has recommended that the Planning Committee approve Third Energy’s application to frack at their KM8 well-site at Kirby Misperton. This recommendation comes despite thousands of written objections from local residents, as well as objections from Ryedale District Council, Flamingo Land (which is only a mile from the proposed well-site), numerous Parish and Town councils, prominent landowners, farmers and local businesses.

The Planning Officer’s report is now available to the public and can be accessed by going to the NYCC website and clicking on the second PDF link (the one that ends ‘CPO Report.pdf’).

This, however, does not mean that fracking at KM8 has been approved. The decision will be made on Friday 20th May at County Hall in Northallerton, when the Planning Committee will meet to discuss the application. The Planning Committee are not bound to accept the Planning Officer’s recommendation, and are still able to reject the application. Last year in Lancashire, the Planning Committee overwhelmingly rejected an application from Cuadrilla to frack at two sites, despite the Planning Officer recommending approval.

Frack Free Ryedale have issued the following press statement:

“Anti-fracking campaigners in Ryedale and across North Yorkshire are appealing direct to North Yorkshire county councillors to defy county planners and reject Third Energy’s application to carry out hydraulic fracturing at Kirby Misperton, near Malton, despite the Planning Officer’s recommendation to give the plans the go-ahead.

Huge numbers of Ryedale residents have written to county councillors outlining their concerns, whilst Frack Free Ryedale have instructed a QC to outline how councillors can confidently reject fracking on defendable planning grounds as Lancashire did last year. Many Ryedale residents have also applied to speak at the Planning Committee on Friday 20th May at County Hall, Northallerton. (To find out how you can apply to speak at the planning meeting, cl

Frack Free Ryedale is planning a huge demonstration of over 1,000 people outside the meeting, with Vivienne Westwood leading the speakers calling for a no vote. There will be a live link provided outside to the Planning Committee meeting. People wanting to follow the proceedings need to pre-register to ensure a seat and further rooms with relay links will be provided inside County Hall.”

Ian Conlan, from Frack Free Ryedale, says:

“This application is only ½ a mile from the village of Kirby Misperton and Flamingo Land, the single largest local tourist attraction and employer, which has recently objected to the application on health grounds and its cumulative impact.

“Flamingo Land join the thousands of residents, businesses, farmers and landowners that have objected to the application in unprecedented numbers to the County Council. When democratically elected councillors see the overwhelming opposition from our communities to fracking, and the votes of Ryedale District Council, all five Ryedale Town Councils, and numerous Parish Councils, we hope that they will recognise the strength of public opinion and turn this application down.”

David Davis, Hovingham resident says:

“Residents have many serious concerns on the impacts of this particular application that are highly relevant in planning terms including exceptional traffic, noise, air pollution and visual impact on local residents, the precedent it would set for thousands of wells across Ryedale, as well as concerns about the disposal of waste water.”

“Ryedale District Council has already found it to be contrary to the Ryedale Plan, and we urge councillors to listen carefully to our arguments and the weight of public opposition and reject this application”.

Professor Nick Cowern, Oswaldkirk resident says:

“We now have substantive evidence that gas is worse than coal in terms of global warming emissions of fugitive methane combined with carbon dioxide, at least on timescales of several decades to a century which will affect our children and grandchildren. This of itself is enough to irrefutably rule out fracking as a way of meeting our climate change obligations. Shale gas is a fossil fuel, rapidly becoming obsolete as the world moves to a new energy future based on renewables.”